What really happened at the billionaires' private confab
Here's the Fox News headline: World's Richest Moguls Met in New York for Secret Charity Meeting. Here's the New York Times blog:The Rich Get … Together (Shhh, It Was a Secret).
And Daily Intel provides the inside scoop:
As somehow first revealed by IrishCentral.com and confirmed by ABC News, some of the world's richest billionaires — including Oprah, Mayor Bloomberg, Ted Turner, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett — held a secret meeting in New York earlier this month to discuss philanthropy. Imagine, all that wealth concentrated in one room. What went on in there? What was discussed? Luckily, Daily Intel has been tight with one of the attendees ever since we held off on running some compromising photos of him. In gratitude, and because we blackmailed him, he provided us with a transcript of a recording he made of the meeting.
Bill Gates: Everyone. Hey everybody. Hey! Come on, take your seats.
Ted Turner: Who put you in charge?
Bill Gates: Hey, I'm the richest man alive, okay?
[Ted Turner mutters under his breath]
Bill Gates: What was that?
Ted Turner: Oh, uh, I asked how Melinda was doing.
Warren Buffett: Hold on, we're still missing someone.
[Oprah enters hurriedly]
George Soros: [Whispering, awestruck] Oh my God, is that Oprah?
Oprah: Sorry I'm late, guys, I had to drop Gayle off in St. Croix.
David Rockefeller: How did you do that?
Oprah: Oh, well, in my personal sub-orbital spacecraft.
David Rockefeller: Oh, ha, right, of course.
Warren Buffett: You do have one, don't you, David?
David Rockefeller: Well ... not at the moment, exactly.
[Everyone erupts in uproarious laughter. Rockefeller solemnly lowers his head in shame]
Bill Gates: All right, all right. [Still chuckling a little] That's enough. Heh. Okay. Let's get started.
George Soros: [Excitedly] I just loved The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Oprah. Thank you so much for recommending it.
[Everyone looks at Soros]
Bill Gates: Okay, anyway, as you know, we're all meeting here today to discuss how to coordinate our vast philanthropic efforts. I, for one, think we can finally put an end to most tropical diseases.
Peter Peterson: Heh, you're not going to unleash a swarm of mosquitoes on us now, are you, Gates? Ha-ha.
Bill Gates: No ... not mosquitoes.
Ted Turner: What kind of loony name is Peter Peterson, anyway?
Peter Peterson: It was my parents' idea.
Ted Turner: Are they still around?
Peter Peterson: In a way. I've had them frozen in carbonite like Han Solo.
Ted Turner: Oh.
Bill Gates: Focus, people! Mike, where have you directed your money lately?
Mayor Bloomberg: Well, my campaign mostly. What? It's important!
Oprah: I think we should redouble our efforts to educate the children of the world.
George Soros: That's a great idea, Oprah! A fantastic idea!
Warren Buffett: Calm down, George.
Eli Broad: I agree. We could improve the futures of so many children, ensuring a brighter tomorrow for our planet.
[Murmurs of agreement]
Ted Turner: I have another idea, something that's been bothering me recently that I think we can really have an impact on in a big way.
Mayor Bloomberg: Oh, do tell, Ted.
Ted Turner: Well, I've noticed that whenever I buy clothes, I find it hard to tell how much an item is going to shrink in the wash. And it makes it difficult to know whether I should buy something that fits perfectly in the store or something slightly larger. But how much larger? It's impossible to know, you know? And I think if we made it mandatory that all the clothes in the world had to be preshrunk, then it would make shopping much easier and more enjoyable.
[Stunned silence fills the room]
Bill Gates: All right, why don't we go with the education thing.
by Kristi Heim
Yes, it's true. A dozen of the richest people in the world met for an unprecedented private gathering at the invitation of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to talk about giving away money.
The May 5 meeting at Rockefeller University included Gates, Buffett, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, George Soros, Eli Broad, Oprah Winfrey, David Rockefeller Sr. and Ted Turner, among others. The meeting came to light only this week when it was reported by the Web site IrishCentral.
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett led a private philanthropy discussion in a year of diminished portfolios even among top givers.
"It really was a group of friends and colleagues who share a commitment to philanthropy discussing ideas in a round table," said former Gates Foundation Chief Executive Patty Stonesifer, who attended the gathering.
In a phone interview today, Stonesifer sought to dispel notions and reports on the Web that the meeting was somehow veiled in secrecy.
"It wasn't secret," she said. "It was meant to be a gathering among friends and colleagues. It was something folks have been discussing for a long time. Bill and Warren hoped to do this occasionally. They sent out an invite and people came."
"This was about philanthropy and this group sharing their passions their interests," said Stonesifer, who is chairwoman of the Smithsonian Institution. "They each learned from each other about what could really make a difference."
But the Manhattan philanthropy salon raised interest for its uniqueness, and the fact that so many on the Forbes world's wealthiest list were able to meet almost completely under the radar. Other reports about the meeting came out here and here.
"As far as anything we've ever seen before, this group of philanthropists that are so high powered in the same room... I think it's unprecedented," said Chronicle of Philanthropy editor Stacy Palmer, who has been covering philanthropy for 20 years.
The members of the meeting have donated more than $72 billion to charity since 1996, according to The Chronicle.
"Given how serious these economic times are, I don't think it's surprising these philanthropists came together," Palmer said. "They don't typically get together and ask each other for advice."
There was no agenda, and the topics were as diverse as the group, Stonesifer said: "everything from U.S. education to efforts of the U.N. to emergency response in [Hurricane] Katrina and many international issues."
The three hosts [Gates, Buffett and David Rockefeller] "wanted to have a private gathering to discuss with others what motivated their giving, the areas of focus, lessons learned and thoughts on how they might increase giving going forward," Stonesifer said.
The elite group met from 3 p.m. through dinner in the President's House on the university campus. There were no 15-minute speeches, and very little of the conversation focused on the economy, Stonesifer said.
The meeting also didn't produce a clear result. "There was lots of shared information that may lead to more things," she said. "There was no action plan associated with it."
One theme critics of the Gates Foundation have seized upon is a lack of transparency, which a wealthy private confab may not help.
"Now they're in a tricky public perception problem," said Palmer. "This is not just for Gates but Soros or any philanthropists that have as much money to spend as small governments."
"It just gives the impression they were trying to coordinate in some way, which makes some people uncomfortable," she said.
"This is a group of people that are in the spotlight," Stonesifer responded. "They use that spotlight for good to draw attention to these issues. The only reason it wasn't more public was that it was a private and informal gathering to discuss these issues."
And there may be more such forums in the future. "I'm sure these folks will convene in one form or another," Stonesifer said. "This area of giving requires people to collaborate and learn lessons from each other."
— Kristi Heim, with comment by Daily Intel
Seattle Times
2009-05-20
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thebusinessofgiving/2009244202_what_really_happened_at_the_bi.html
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